The Witness

Nora Roberts is like the Mob.... I keep trying to get out, and she keeps pulling me back in. I saw this book on the new book shelf in the library and I just couldn't resist it. I'm glad I didn't. It's the story of Elizabeth Fitch, a super-intelligent and highly-controlled 16-year-old who, in a fit of rebellion, makes a couple of fake IDs and sneaks with her friend Julie into the coolest nightclub in Chicago. When she and Julie hook up with the club's very sexy Russian owners and head back to their Lake Shore Drive mansion, things go south in a hurry.

Fast-forward 12 years, and Elizabeth, now living as Abigail Lowery in a tiny town in Arkansas, just wants to live her quiet life with her dog, her security cameras, and her arsenal. But the town's Sheriff Brooks Gleason has something to say about that. How can you not like a character named Brooks? Although that is one of those oops moments you sometimes get from an author: first his mother came to Arkansas from Pennsylvania, but next she's a rabid Orioles fan who names her son for Brooks Robinson? I guess we'll give Nora the benefit of the doubt and say Mom came from Southern PA, the part that's right over the line on Route 95.

Other than that it's a great read, I got through it in just a couple of days. Great suspense, great characters, great story. I think this might be my favorite Nora Roberts stand-alone novel.

The Witness

The Fault in Our Stars

Okay, so technically I believe this is a Young Adult novel, but if you hadn't told me that I never would have guessed. This is the story of Hazel Lancaster, a 16-year-old terminal cancer patient, granted a few more years from medical science but not expected to reach adulthood. Hazel is smart, funny, irreverent, and she has pretty much accepted the fact that she's dying, but she is doing it on her terms. One night at the Kids with Cancer support group that her mother forces her to attend, she meets the gorgeous Augustus Waters, who lost a leg to cancer a year ago, but now aged 17 is back to school and leading a normal life (well, normal for a one-legged-17-year-old).

Meeting Augustus changes Hazel's life, and probably more importantly, it changes what she expects from her life.

I won't give the story away, but I just want to say that these are two smart, funny, interesting teenagers, and they manage to be those things without being wizards or vampires. They are normal kids dealing with tragic situations in the best way they can.

I've never read any John Green before, but I definitely will read more. He made me laugh, cry, and think, and there aren't a lot of authors who can do that.

The Fault in Our Stars

Maid Marian

I really enjoyed this retelling of the Robin Hood legend from Marian's point of view. The novel seems well-grounded historically while still giving us a fun and exciting story. The author, Elsa Watson, portrays Marian as a smart, strong, and progressive character, quite different from how she is usually portrayed.

Marian is an orphaned noblewoman who is married off at the age of 5 to an equally young nobleman. When he dies mysteriously before they've had a chance at consummation, the marriage is annulled and Marion goes home to await her fate - sure to be another arranged marriage. But Marian isn't going to give in so easily this time, so she goes in search of the legendary Robin Hood, in the hopes he can help her find out what Queen Eleanor plans for her, by stealing the royal mail from the messenger traveling through Sherwood Forest. And so begins a great romance and a series of great adventures.

Marian and Robin are both super likeable and interesting characters. It probably speaks to the author's sensibilities that the nobles are almost entirely unlikeable while the commoners are good, kind, and warm people. At any rate, this was an enjoyable read and I highly recommend it.

Maid Marian